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Thomas Bolin
thomas bolin

Thomas Bolin

Professor of Theology and Religious Studies
Theology and Religious Studies920-403-3078

Thomas Bolin is a professor of theology and religious studies at St. Norbert College. He teaches courses in the languages, history and culture of the Hebrew Bible and related ancient cultures. The author of four books and numerous articles, Bolin researches the literary and religious histories of ancient Israel and early Judaism, and the history of Christian biblical interpretation. He is a recipient of the Leonard Ledvina Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Donald B. King Distinguished Scholar Award from SNC.

  • THRS 117 Theological Foundations
  • THRS 302 Forgotten and Found Sacred Texts
  • THRS 309 Biblical Exegesis and Research
  • THRS 314 Origins of Biblical Monotheism
  • THRS 322 Religious Heritage of the Hebrew Bible
  • THRS 327 Ancient Wisdom and the Modern Search for Meaning
  • THEO 503 Scripture and Biblical Interpretation (graduate-level)
  • HEBR 101-102-203 Elementary, Intermediate and Readings in Biblical Hebrew

  • B.A. – St. Edward’s University
  • M.A. – Marquette University
  • Ph.D. – Marquette University

  • Ancient Israelite history and literature
  • Biblical wisdom literature (Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes)
  • Post-exilic literature (Jonah, Ezra-Nehemiah)
  • History of Christian biblical interpretation

Books:
Ecclesiastes and The Riddle of Authorship (Routledge, 2017).

Ezra-Nehemiah (Liturgical Press, 2012).

Freedom beyond Forgiveness: The Book of Jonah Re-Examined (Continuum, 1997).

Selected Articles:
“Qohelet/Ecclesiastes,” in B. Strawn (ed.), Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion (Oxford University Press, 2023)

Kathleen Gallagher Elkins & Thomas M. Bolin, “Boundaries, Intersections, and the Parting of Ways in the Letter of James,” Interpretation 74 (2020) 335–343.

"Post-exilic Prose Traditions: Novella Writers, Story Tellers, and History Writers,” in D. Morgan (ed.), The Oxford Handbook to the Writings (Oxford University Press, 2018) 116-31.

“The Biblical Commission’s Instruction, On the Historical Truth of the Gospels (Sancta Mater Ecclesia) and Present Magisterial Attitudes Toward Biblical Exegesis,” Gregorianum 93, 4 (2012) 765-85.